By Adrianne Nielsen
Bullying can happen to anyone and anywhere. With kids being able to tweet, text, and spread rumors faster than ever now, how many of them are bullies? Or are they just conflict starters?
According to dosomething.org, over 3.2 million students are bullied every year, with 71% of students reporting the incidents, 90% being 4th – 8th, and 1 in 10 being cyber bullied. Several students in Audubon, both male and female, said that they have been bullied within the past several years. Although, the numbers seem higher in middle school and freshman girls. It is more common for girls to gravitate toward the drama that is claimed to be bullying, whereas guys might keep quiet about it.
Some students spoke about what it’s like to be bullied. Carl* said, “I used to get made fun of for having a chest bigger than girls, so I lost a lot of weight and now I’m better than them.”
Although for some people, it brings them down. Rhonda* said, “I was bullied over my shape and size…I felt like it was never going to end. I felt like just breaking down. I felt like I couldn’t stay strong anymore.”
When asked how many times Taylor* felt victimized, she responded with, “it’s an everyday thing.”
Although most bullying happens when teachers aren't around, Mr. Dammel said that if he sees something fishy in the hallways he tries to stop it before something could get ugly.
Principal Mr. Trager said, “most [bullying at AHS] is electronic, and I hesitate to call it cyber bullying because usually it’s not like somebody’s posting something, at least what I’m seeing, is someone’s not posting something evil about somebody else on Facebook that the whole world can see, it’s more like nasty text messages back and forth or Instagram, whatever. But it’s a lot of that and a lot of rumors spreading.” Mr. Trager later said, “a lot of what we see is actually conflict…Bullying is bad, it is harmful to the person who is being bullied, it’s a terrible thing, it shouldn’t happen.”
*names were changed to protect identity
According to dosomething.org, over 3.2 million students are bullied every year, with 71% of students reporting the incidents, 90% being 4th – 8th, and 1 in 10 being cyber bullied. Several students in Audubon, both male and female, said that they have been bullied within the past several years. Although, the numbers seem higher in middle school and freshman girls. It is more common for girls to gravitate toward the drama that is claimed to be bullying, whereas guys might keep quiet about it.
Some students spoke about what it’s like to be bullied. Carl* said, “I used to get made fun of for having a chest bigger than girls, so I lost a lot of weight and now I’m better than them.”
Although for some people, it brings them down. Rhonda* said, “I was bullied over my shape and size…I felt like it was never going to end. I felt like just breaking down. I felt like I couldn’t stay strong anymore.”
When asked how many times Taylor* felt victimized, she responded with, “it’s an everyday thing.”
Although most bullying happens when teachers aren't around, Mr. Dammel said that if he sees something fishy in the hallways he tries to stop it before something could get ugly.
Principal Mr. Trager said, “most [bullying at AHS] is electronic, and I hesitate to call it cyber bullying because usually it’s not like somebody’s posting something, at least what I’m seeing, is someone’s not posting something evil about somebody else on Facebook that the whole world can see, it’s more like nasty text messages back and forth or Instagram, whatever. But it’s a lot of that and a lot of rumors spreading.” Mr. Trager later said, “a lot of what we see is actually conflict…Bullying is bad, it is harmful to the person who is being bullied, it’s a terrible thing, it shouldn’t happen.”
*names were changed to protect identity
| | People tend to forget the true definition of bullying. According to the State of Iowa legislation bullying/harassment is defined as: "any electronic, written, verbal, or physical act or conduct toward a student which is based on any actual or perceived trait or characteristic of the student and which creates an objectively hostile school environment that meets one or more of the following conditions:
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